Calling down a Loose Aggressive

[tetonpete]

i see nothing really wrong with capping the flop. I might have gone for a CR on the turn, but that's just me.

My point is that you are now describing a maniac, which is not what you seemed to saying in your initial post. Regardless, let's say that, as you believed, this guy is going to cap all rounds, with anything better than ace high. You also know that you are ahead of him, and that he is at best a 5-1 shot. Your biggest problem here is that there is a cap. If he will bet the max no matter what his hand is, then his bets are meaningless as a source of information. All you know is that you were ahead, and by a lot, and so you want to put as much money in the pot as possible. It's essentially the same as being able to bet the max amount for all rounds, but doing it at once, on the flop. It's a great bet if he's a 5-1 dog.

The problem is most maniacs don't fit this desciption. They may raise or reraise when they sense weakness, or when they are convinced someone is bluffing, but they don't automatically cap every round with bottom pair. And so their bets mean something. At some point you need to worry about your read. At least I do. And so you don't know really know if you are ahead on the flop. Hands that this guy could easily have that beat you: 44, KT, K4, T4. Likely? No, but becoming more likely with every raise and reraise.